I've been almost one year away from the art world and since last January I haven't traveled further than Madrid, 120km from the village. After Arco Madrid art fair last year February, I have met only a handful of art world people who have visited my studio. My works have been shipped to some group shows but I've stayed at home for a serious health issue in the family.

Now I'm ready to rejoin the art world. As an aperitif I'm in a group show in Talavera de la Reina, the nearest town to our village, opening on Friday. Next week I fly to Helsinki where I have two connected solo shows - Taxonomy of Anthropomorphic Animals at the Natural History Museum and Animal Show Business at Galerie Forsblom. Just after that gig, I take a portrait of Francisco Franco to this year's Arco Madrid.

I have to recall the Riiko Sakkinen artist role, which is, I guess, different than my way of being as a father and husband at home.